ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between the forms of concentration and export instability for each country in a sample of 52 developing countries. It discusses the relationship between international trade and economic development is the importance of the problems created for the developing countries by fluctuations in their export earnings. Typically exports from African. Asian and Latin American countries are characterised by dependence on a narrow range of commodities which are sold to a small number of foreign markets. More recent studies have found geographic concentration to be insignificant as an explanatory variable of, although positively related to, export instability. The technique most commonly used in cross-country investigations into the association between concentration and instability is regression analysis. The value of the Gini-Hirschman coefficient will be lower the greater is the number of export items and the more even is the distribution of proceeds among the various products.
